What courses can self-study for college students who want to enter the crypto industry?

Author: Heathen

Source: Heathen's Twitter

College is undoubtedly one of the best times of your life. You have 90% of the freedom of an adult, but only 10% of the responsibility. But aside from being fun, college can also be very busy. Extracurricular activities and a social life can quickly eat up your free time.

If you happen to be interested in the crypto industry, you may not have that much time to get involved. After all, cryptocurrency is a 24/7 game. If you're giving up some aspects of college for the crypto industry, I personally wouldn't recommend it. The crypto industry has always been there, and the university is only four years old.

Another option is to shelve the crypto industry entirely while in school, which I don't really recommend either. Because the crypto industry changes quickly. You have to be involved or be left behind.

The ideal option is to take supplementary courses that will help you pursue a career in the crypto industry.

This way you can kill two birds with one stone.

That doesn't mean only taking courses in encryption technology. Encryption is not well suited for college courses. It's moving too fast. Anything you learn is either outdated or about to become obsolete.

So, you better teach yourself encryption. So, how to choose these supplementary courses? In my opinion, there are three criteria for selection:

• Relevant to the crypto industry

• Improve your skills

• benefit from studying in a university environment

Based on this, this article summarizes the following five types of courses for you:

1. Computer Science

This is clearly preferred, and for good reason. Computer science is at the heart of cryptography. No discipline is more relevant or helpful for aspiring crypto professionals.

There are many benefits to studying computer science:

• You will be better at on-chain analysis.

• You will be able to assess smart contract risks.

• Developer jobs are always in demand and pay much better than the average job.

So the most important course is computer science. You won't regret it.

2. Economics

If computer science is at the core of cryptography, economics is the outer core. Economics are embedded in the fabric of encryption technology. No matter what field you specialize in, you will benefit from learning more about economics.

If you're a GameFi developer, Economics will help you design sustainable game economies.

If you like NFTs, economics will help you better value projects.

If you like DeFi, you don't need me to explain you to know the role of economics.

Don't worry too much, just choose economics.

3. Writing

It's no secret that being able to write well is key for non-programmers looking to get a job in the crypto space.

Still, writing is important even for developers.

Everyone needs to be able to express themselves clearly. Fortunately, anyone can be a good writer.

However, just watching a video on a writing crash course won’t make you that person. You need constant feedback to help you improve your writing. There are many professors and classmates in the university, and they can provide you with a lot of useful feedback.

Therefore, hone your writing skills in college.

4. Philosophy

In the crypto industry, how you think is as important as what you know. If you can't rigorously examine protocols/tokens/trends and draw your own conclusions, you won't get very far.

Philosophy can help you solve these difficult problems.

Philosophy is critical thinking. It analyzes complex problems and proposes solutions. It requires you to think outside the box.

These are the skills that will really set you apart from the competition.

5. Courses that can make up for your weaknesses

Too often, we're just stuck doing what we're already good at. But that's not ideal at all. We grow fastest in uncomfortable environments. We must venture out of our comfort zone so we can reach our full potential.

The problem is, that's hard to do in adult life after graduation. Unlike college students, the risk of jumping out of your comfort zone is relatively low in college, and this is the best time to make up for your weaknesses. Therefore, you can choose those courses that can make up for your weaknesses. The specific courses vary from person to person and will not be listed here. Because only you know best what your weaknesses are.

Encryption is an all-encompassing field. The courses listed here are not exhaustive, in addition you can study politics, mathematics, history, psychology and others. However, mastering these 5 courses can lay the foundation for you to enter the encryption industry.

After that, you need to constantly expand the boundaries of your knowledge.